The international development of the jury : the role of the British empire.

Trial by Jury: Story of a Legal Transplant

“…The classic common law jury that was borrowed, transplanted, and translated in its new Argentine context was itself the product of a long line of successive transplantations across legal systems. Developing as a dispute resolution mechanism in medieval England, the English jury came to be considered as, in Blackstone's words, “the glory of the English law.” The institution spread throughout the world during British and French colonial expansions (Hans and Germain ; Vogler ).…”

“…In contrast, in other colonies, such as Nigeria, Zanzibar, Kenya, and Southern Rhodesia, the jury trial was typically reserved for Europeans rather than Africans (Vogler :224–25). Once these colonies achieved independence, the new nations rejected British law and the institution of the jury that had been imposed upon them during colonial times (Vogler , ). These countries fit the pattern of rejection that Miller (:847–49) has identified as common for externally‐dictated legal transplants.…”

“…Developing as a dispute resolution mechanism in medieval England, the English jury came to be considered as, in Blackstone's words, "the glory of the English law." The institution spread throughout the world during British and French colonial expansions (Hans and Germain 2011;Vogler 2001).…”

“…But British and French imperialism was even more significant. In the first broad wave of jury transplantation, the British Empire brought the English‐style common law jury along with its British legal system to the many lands that it conquered (Park ; Vidmar ; Vogler ). The British Empire exported and imposed trial by jury along with the common law legal system.…”

Jury Systems Around the World

“…Many countries that were once part of the British Empire inherited the English legal system, including its jury. After independence from Britain, although a number of former colonies abandoned the jury because of its association with an oppressive imperial regime, others retained it and made it a permanent part of the legal system (Vogler 2001). Although juries are more frequently found in common law systems, some civil law countries such as Spain and Austria employ all-citizen juries.…”